ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/1250
Ahhhh, the symmetry. That's beautiful.
Hello, my pretties.
[I'm beginning to run out of openings to these posts.....I'm sure I'll think of more.]
Today was interesting. It started far too early at around 08:00 and it was non-stop after that. As you may recognize from the picture above, our destination today was the Louvre.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/7.1, 1/1250
The problem, as it turned out, was that the Louvre was everyone else's destination as well.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/640
A photo of Nico and Dad. Thought it was pretty good, hence me posting it here.
There was a huge line at the entrance, with quite a wait. It was interesting, there were a bunch of people standing in the line selling Louvre and Paris merchandise (keychains, selfie sticks, etc.) I wonder how much money they make throughout the day.....
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Technically, as I found out after we got back, photography of the pyramids at the Louvre is illegal as long as they're the main subject matter.
[EDIT: it turns out it's fine for me to include these pictures in my blog. It's only illegal for commercial purposes, so nobody go and sell those pictures (although, if you're selling my pictures, we've got other problems)]
In the first picture, the subject is the silhouettes; in the second one, it's the contrast in the sky; in the one above, it's my father and brother; and in this next one, it's the reflection in the glass.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/1250
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/1600
Oh, I love the symmetry. This makes my brain so happy.
Now, of course, the one thing you've all been waiting for. I went to the Louvre. Where is She? La Jaconde, the Mona Lisa?
Well, right there. Behind the huge line. (Yes, they actually roped off a line for people to wait to view the Mona Lisa.
ISO 160, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/80
I just walked off to the side and snapped this one from there.
ISO 250, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/80
I know it's not a great shot or angle, but the crowd was massive. The number and density of people there was insane. They slowed or stopped the flow of people through the rooms as they all tried to take pictures of—and I use this correctly—literally every painting in the museum.
ISO 1600, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/80
Eventually, the crowds just got too overwhelming, so we decided it just wasn't worth it. We couldn't see most of the paintings because there were so many people, and getting from place to place was too difficult, so we just headed out.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/640
Subject matter in these pictures is the Maison du Chocolat sign (I never did convince my family to go in and buy chocolate) and the beautiful symmetry (I seriously considered adding a mirrored watermark on the other side.....)
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/2500
After that, we just walked around a bit.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f1.8, 1/1000
I love having the Eiffel Tower in the background. It will be in the foreground tomorrow, if things go according to plan.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/2000
This guy was just standing around selling hats and Eiffel Tower statues. There was a huge line of merchants like this on both sides of the walkway.
There are motorcycles all over Paris. I love it. I want one.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8, 1/1250
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/1.8 1/500
This one. I want this one. Triumph Bonnevile.
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Finally, after a ton of searching, we found a good bistro to go to. We were all starving and the food was pretty good. I had the vegetarian option, a delicious cheese pizza.
ISO 100, 50 mm, f/2.5, 1/320
This was one of the lights on the wall of the bistro. No, it wasn't this dark. I took some artistic license when I took the photo, as you can tell from the EXIF data listed.
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If you haven't noticed, I've started adding notes about each picture into the captions of the pictures instead of the text in between. I think that helps to know which one I'm talking about. Any thoughts on the matter, let me know!
That's all for today. Tomorrow, the plan is Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. Not sure the order, not sure if we'll be feeling up to both. We shall see.
Adios—wait, wrong language,
Alec
Alec